Phenom II successful/not successful core unlock

videl

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OK I built a phenom II X2 system and as many of you who read my threads know I successfully unlocked the locked cores on it...I know that a number of people here on toms also had the same success I did...
For those who don't know about my system I'll post it later...
But I just want all the people who had success/no success in unlocking any phenom II X2 or X3 to post their results on this thread...or you could just PM me...I'm gonna do a phenom II unlocking guide and I want to collect some statistics to see approximately how high of a chance it is to build a computer with an X2 or X3 and successfully unlock.
Thanks...

PS: If it's not hard I would like to also know what motherboard and bios version you guys used to unlock. For those who didn't have success in unlocking cores this guide I'm working on might help in unlocking it if they did something wrong...
Thanks again... :)
 

JDFan

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OK quess I'll start things off for you - Phenom II X3 720 with a Gigabyte GA-MA790GPT-UD3H using the Award BIOS version F3 dated 09\16\2009 - Purchased both MOBO and CPU from Newegg first week of Dec. 2009 - successfully Unlocked and running 24\7 @ 3.2GHZ. with no problems @ 1.312V

Screenshot with some Benches and Temps. (Using a Cooler Master TX3 Cooler) :

Stats02.jpg
 

JDFan

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Did you try giving it just a touch more Voltage ? - some of the disabled cores just need a little more Voltage to get them to work properly.
 

OvrClkr

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x2 550BE purchased from Newegg on July-26-2009

Crosshair III Formula purchased from Newegg on January-4-2010 (Bios Version AMI 10-29-09)

Unlocked / Overclocked & running at 3.8Ghz (daily) @ 1.4v / Max OC 4.1Ghz (bench only) @ 1.485v

Using a Titan Fenir w/ MX-2 :

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv199/OvrClkr/newidle.jpg

newidle.jpg


http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv199/OvrClkr/load38.jpg

load38.jpg


http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv199/OvrClkr/newtemp_idle.png

newtemp_idle.png


http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv199/OvrClkr/newtemp_41Ghz.png

newtemp_41Ghz.png
 

JDFan

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And why would you care - at least we all gave them some profit to work with instead of giving more profit to their competittor !! - besides buying these CPUs with a chance of getting them to unlock allows them to sell the chips which have production errors causing them to not perform to the higher specs of a quad which returns more of a profit to them - just because there is high demand for these chips and they decide to disable perfectly good cores to fill that demand at a lower profit margin is their decision - IF they truly wanted them to be unlockable and curb demand for the Chips they would just let them be out of stock if there were not enough defective chips to fill the demand instead of using good chips.

Besides this is simply another option of OCing to get the best performance for your investment same as buying an i5 750 and OCing it to improve performance instead of buying an i7 or i9 - which I suppose you would also call f***ing thievery !!
 

andy5174

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Overclocking can be done on i7 and i9 as well and it is officially supported by any MB, so it is not a thievery.

Anyway, I didn't really mean it and so don't take it seriously. :)
 

JDFan

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While it may be doable on any MOBO and platform - it voids your warranty and is not officially supported by Intel - and I'm pretty sure they would call it thievery if it means you spend less money giving them less profit than you otherwise would have. :kaola: - and not taking it seriously just bored and wanting to argue a bit to pass the time !! (so no problem)
 

aznshinobi

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Lol why does andy even care? If you are such an intel fanboy, whats the point of posting on an amd type thread. Also, are you angry cause you didn't get the best bang for your buck?
 

dkapke

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I've actually bought 7 of these (x2 550BE) and not had one that wouldn't unlock. I did have one that unlocked to a quad, then I updated the BIOS and it refused to unlock core 2 (the third core) and even reverting back to the old BIOS wouldn't get the 4th unlocked. Oh well...still a nice x3. All of them have been stable at default voltage and I've got all but one of the 6 unlocked up to 3.6GHz on the factory cooler (one wouldn't go above the default 3.1GHz...and the unlocked x3 got to 3.4). All stable in Prime95 for 8 hours and all rock solid. I had one extra that's even on eBay right now, though trying to sell it with Vista (the only OS license I had left) is pointless. heh-heh.

Anyways...6 of 7 unlocked to quad and one to an x3. Usually 785G (w/ sb710) boards, but one with a 770 AM3. LOVE these processors. Oh, and all but one of those didn't even need a BIOS update (the Biostar 785G I built did). Great odds, I'd say.
 

videl

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Andy was just trying to stir a conversation...I really don't care...
But I do disagree...If I bought the chip as an X2 and did something to it to make it preform better, It's not stealing it's being smart. They priced the X2 at $100 and I paid for the product, then I can do whatever I want with it. I overclocked and unlocked the cores...I voided my warranty and there's no point in arguing...If you overclocked your intel processor like your i5 you also voided your warranty...
These CPUs are made to overclock because that's what building a computer is all about these days...but both companys officially don't support overclocking because they don't do it for you...you do it yourself, and if you screw up and fry or break your cpu it's your fault and your problem they don't wanna deal with you...

Anyway, thank you guys for posting your configurations...hopefully I'll get a few more posts to get all the information I need...;)
 

videl

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@dkapke,
Thanks for your post...looks like you got a whole bunch of lucky chips...
I unlocked mine on a gigabyte GA MA 77OT UD3P mobo - SB710 and on an MSI 790FX GD70 - SB750...both had to have bios updates but both worked very well...
 

OvrClkr

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He didn't do anything wrong, he is entitled to his own opinion like everyone else ;)

Fanboy or not, andy is pretty strait forward, I would be pist too if I had spent over 2 hundred on a CPU to later find out that people are paying 99.99$ / 130.00$ for a fully functional quad.
 

dkapke

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My HTPC is a Gigabyte 790X board (UD4P) with an unlocked 550, and my son's gaming PC is a Gigabyte 785GM-US2H with an unlocked 550. I've definitely had the easiest time/luck with Gigabyte boards. My daughter's PC (which also serves as my backup as I work from home and need my PC 100% available) is an ASRock AM3 board that just refuses, no matter what I do, to unlock a known unlockable 550. I finally got frustrated and spent the $70 more for a real 965BE. That's the only board I could never get to work. But yeah...what are the odds of having that many unlock so easy? I've got a buddy that's bought three of them and can't get any of them to unlocked with the same boards I've got that worked. Needless to say...he hates me. LOL. I did sell him one for his Gigabyte board that did unlock just to make him happy.
 

Truhls

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I have a 720 BE I bought just over a month ago, unlocked to a 4 core easily. Still stock setting sadly. Using a ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard, with most recent bios.